Friday, February 29, 2008

The most salient criticism of modern journalism is the frequent lack of evidence of any critical thinking whatsoever. A combination of short staffing, questionable quality in the talent pool and the latest mutations in the Cult of Objectivity have led to more and more stories in which statements from officialdom are reproduced without the reporter questioning even patently ridiculous assertions. A particularly pathetic example appeared in Cleveland dot com's Metro updates yesterday: "Driver's dozing saves his life in guardrail crash."

From the story:

Police said they expected he would have been killed when they saw the guardrail has crashed through the driver's door, passed through the driver's seat and through the trunk.

Atkison was taken to Huron Road Hospital for observation for a head injury but was not seriously injured, police said.

According to reports, Atkison fell asleep about 7:30 a.m. while driving east on Interstate 90.

The car served off the road and struck the guardrail with such force it peeled off the support studs and skewered the 1998 Ford from front to back.

Police said the fact that Atkison dozed likely saved him because he slumped to the right missing the impact of the guardrail.

At no point does the reporter allude to the painfully-obvious-to-my-11-year-old point that if he hadn't been dozing he wouldn't have been in the guardrail crash. But hey, the police say that's what happened, that's what we must report.